In video-telephony, video and voice signal are passed between two terminals or endpoints connected by a broadband or other network. The network may be an IP (Internet Protocol) network or other broadband network capable of carrying voice and data. The terminals may be dedicated video-telephony devices, such as cellular telephones, or more general purpose devices such as personal computers (PCs), Televisions (with or without set top boxes) or personal digital assistants (PDAs). Each terminal provides a screen for video display, a camera for video input, a loudspeaker for audio reproduction, a microphone for audio input, one or more processors for signal processing and a transceiver for communication.
Modification of still images and video images is known and software applications exist to allow images to be altered. For example, television pictures may be resized or cropped to fit screens with different aspect ratios.
The modification of part of a video image is known, for example, when sporting events are broadcast, regions of the image showing billboards may be modified to vary the advertisement. As another example, a background to a person may be changed by identifying the region of the image occupied by the person.
In video-telephony, a user may make various modifications to the way an incoming video image is displayed. These changes include, for example, changing the background environment, adding props, using avatars or changing the audio characteristics.
The addition of fixed frames around still images is known, as is the display of a video image overlaying a still background. Current computer based video-telephony applications present the video image either full screen or with a simple, plain border or frame.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.